- by Peter Farmer
- The Guardian
- Issue #2148
A Jetstar worker has allegedly used a staff discount to fly to Israel to volunteer with the Israeli Defence Force. According to deepcutnews.com, the worker, a Samoan citizen, worked as a volunteer in logistics for the IDF’s ‘Paran’ Brigade in May.
The worker seemed very proud to be the only Samoan to ever volunteer for the IDF, posting enthusiastically about her “service” and love of Israel.
Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN) has said that Qantas, Jetstar’s parent company should “take responsibility and urgently investigate how its staff benefits were used in this way”.
Deepcut quoted APAN president Nasser Mashni as saying:
“International law makes clear that responsibility for preventing gross legal violations isn’t just on states, but on companies too – they must ensure their policies and practices don’t enable or support atrocity crimes.”
APAN criticised “the Australian government’s continued failure to issue warnings and intervene to prevent people from flying from Australia to serve with Israel’s forces.”
“For more than 18 months, civil society groups have urged the Australian government to meet its obligations under the Genocide Convention, including by issuing clear warnings against travelling to support Israel’s Occupation Forces as they commit genocide in Gaza and escalate their violence across the rest of Palestine,” Mashni said.
